Sara Cravens On Planned Parenthood

The following is reprinted, with permission, from Sara Craven's FaceBook page.

Sara is a comedic actress now residing in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in Tenesee and is a proud Christian. Her post about the necessity of Planned Parenthood was one of the most thoughtful writings on the subject I have ever come across. For those of you who think the battle for Planned Parenthood is a secular vs Christian battle, please consider the following:

It is unfathomable to me that any woman could vote for Romney/Ryan. For many reasons, but the health issue particularly hits home for me...

I'm not looking to start an argument, however I feel it's necessary to give a real-life tangible account, to counter the inaccuracies that are being spouted off about Planned Parenthood (when I'm certain most of these spouting-folks have never set foot inside a Planned Parenthood and obviously have NO CLUE what they do there.)

2 years ago I transitioned from a corporate job to being a full time actor, and with that transition, I obviously lost my cushy corporate-job insurance. Pap smears and cancer screenings are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for women. Wanna know where I got my pap smear and cancer screenings? Planned Parenthood.

Have I ever gotten an abortion and do I ever intend to get an abortion? No. Were most of the women there with me getting the same screenings/checkups as I was? Yes. Am I so excited at the prospect of making a ton of money someday so I can donate gobs of my money to amazing facilities like Planned Parenthood that helped me out when I needed it? You bet I am.

It's not a satanic abortion house, ill-informed persons. Please get your facts straight before talking about a facility that is a beautiful place doing a lot of wonderful things for women.

Ladies, stand up for yourself. OBAMA is fighting to protect your rights.

And also might I add, bet on the 47%ers. Some of us actually make something of ourselves...and gladly return the favor when we're able :)

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

5K Blog: Toddy Ran Wild... No... Really!

A few thoughts about the race on Saturday:

1. Mornings are no damn time to run a race for me. I prefer sometime like 3 in the afternoon.

2. I love my sister dearly but there is no excuse whatsoever of a photo of myself stretching my quadriceps. Except perhaps for the caption I gave it....

3.It was very nice for my parents to show up. Especially since Dad wasn't feeling very good that morning and Mom has this fear her presence causes bad things to happen. At my age and girth she was probably worried about me having a heart attack. ;-)

4. McDonald's as one of the sponsors? Really? Jared hates state parks or something? I'm just glad Ronald didn't make it because with my severe clown phobia it would have become ugly.

5. I did not prepare for that first hill and it was a doozy. Fortunately Ashley already knew about it and recommended we walk up it. Hill training must be added to my regimen.

6. I'm not sure if people were impressed, amazed or shocked when they saw me run but I sure did get a bunch of double-takes.

Although Ashley denies it, I'm pretty sure she wanted to get a legitimate workout in after the warm-up with me. ;-)

As far as the race itself, I didn't do too badly even though my lungs were locked tighter than they have since I picked it up again following my month's hiatus. (Respitory infection?) The first mile was rough but during the walking mile my lungs started opening up. Not only was I able to run the last mile, I did it in 12:05 (unofficial) which is one of my best times running a mile since I started this project.

So ends my the chronicles of how a middle-aged, over-weight couch-potato and recently recovering chain smoker (2 packs a day) went from barely even able to run 20 seconds at a crack to running almost two-thirds of a 3 mile race. This, of course, is not the end of journey. In fact, in about an hour it's back to the grind.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

5K Blog: Workouts 39 & 40 plus final thoughts.

Workout 39

Goal: 1.3 miles

Completed: 1.3 miles

The old lungs are still locked tighter than a virgin's chastity belt but I was able to reach my goal. This marks the last of the conditioning workouts as Thursday's will be a much shorter run just long enough to remind my body it still does runs.

Workout 40

Goal: Pace myself faster than comfortable for as long as I can go

Result: .46 miles

I decided to try something different to try to loosen my lungs up. I ran faster than I wabted to until I just couldn't go. It helped as I started having a productive cough soon after. Hopefully, I will feel the difference on Saturday.

Final Thoughts

As I look back on my training, I see how very far I have come. When I first started, the thought of ever being able to run a mile or more was rather daunting. However, I stuck with it and I am confident I will be able to run a mile, walk a mile then run that final mile. This is a far cry from my original go of running the entire race with an average speed of 6 miles per hour. Obviously, I was being pretty ambitious and even though I missed my original goals, I still traveled a long way and I'm not done yet. My training will continue.

At this time I would like to thank the people who helped me out on this endeavor:

My sister Trisha who's example during the Green Bay Marathon helped inspire me on this project.

My parents for giving me encouragement along the way.

My sibblings and friends on FB and on Twitter for giving me support.

Last (but certainly not least by a long shot) a huge thank you goes out to my sister Ashley. Not only did her running in the Green Bay Marathon help inspire me to start this project but her continual advice (How very wonderful to have a certified personal trainer in the family!), encouragement and emotional support really put this thing together. She also did this during a very rough and emotional time in her life. Thank you so very much coach Tickle-Squirt.

Let's do this thing of ours.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

5K Blog: Workout 38 (Did someone get the number of that truck?)

Goal: 1.6 mile run

Result: 1.1 mile run

Other: I felt pretty good when I started and it felt like I took off like a shot. Average speed reflects this as I was .3 mph faster today than on Tuesday. After I got over the hump of the Oregon street bridge my breathing felt really good. I was sure I was going to get 1.6 miles in today.

On Neenah ave I started feeling like I couldn't get a full breath and my glutes and calf muscles (which are usually the one thing I can count on) started wearing out. My oxygen debt started over-whelming my heart's ability to deliver oxygen so I stopped my workout. I figure I am still shaking off a few cobwebs.

This workout did seem to leave me more pooped than Tuesday's as well.

Special note: I forgot to put on my knee brace. It didn't seem to be a problem at this point.

Stats down below:

5K Blog: Workout 37 (So after a month of not being able to breathe.)

Goal: Run somewhere betwee  1.0 and 1.6 miles.

Result: 1.09 miles run. Goal achieved.

Other: Yes, I didn't write about workout 36. That was on September 1st I believe.

Anywho, this year's allergy season was exceptionally bad. It was so bad that for a while I could only get somewhere between 2-4 hours of sleep per night and it never felt like I could get a full breath. In short: it sucked the big donkey's schlong.

However, starting last week I started walking to work again and last week Wednsday I actually did an impromptu half mile run. So I decided that today was a go for a run and hoped I would get at least a mile out of it. I did... barely.

The problem is my lungs haven't completely cleared and probably won't unless I start running again on a regular basis. Still, not bad for a month off.

Stats down below:

5K Blog: Workouts 34 and 35 (A tale of two workouts)

Sunday August 26, 2012

Schedule: 1.3 mile run

Result: Workout complete

Other: Hip pain was almost non-exsistent. The data for my workout was accidentally erased but my route was Third ave to Oregon to first to Iowa. Air was still pretty unwholesome.

Tuesday August 28

Schedule: 1.4 mile run.

Result: Workout complete

Other: First time I ran fully geared with a 10-15 lbs back-pack kn a wedk and I could feel it big time. Hip was an issue from the beginning, loosened up and then kicked me in the jimmy after the run. Despite some of the slow speeds, I did maintain a running motion the entire time.

I have another full geared workout on Thursday for 1.5 miles. I'm hurting just thinking about it.

5K Blog: Workout 33 (The Return of The Heat)

Schedule: 1.2 mile run.

Results: Run stopped after .96 miles.

Other: A little over-heated as this was the first workout with high humidity in about 3 weeks. I also didn't hydrate as well as I usually do as I snuck this in between grocery shopping and a football game. Also, the hip was acting up a bit and I just didn't seem to have it today.

I still think I should be able to do 1.3 miles on Sunday but I will probably wait until dusk to go on a run. Running djring the hottest part of the day is probably what did me in. Stats down below:

5K Blog: Workout 32 (Getting Old Sucks!)

Schedule: 1.1 mile run

Results: Workout complete

Other: My right hip is starting to rebel. Poop on my right hip! I have things to see and people to do.  I have no time for a bleeding hip pointer that decides to nag at me after I'm done running! Stop it you bleeding hip, I'm too damn young to have you replaced. In short... pbbbbbbblllt!

Other than that the work out went fine. This one, despite being a tad slower, was probably even more impressive than the last workout. This workout I was carrying a 10-15 lbs back pack and running cross country and I ran a tenth of a mile longer.

Stats down below.

5K Blog: Workout 31 (One mile down, two more to go.)

Schedule: Run around the high-school track until I can't anymore.

Results: Four laps ran or one whole mile.

Other: My cardio and breathing started breaking down after the third lap and I stopped after completeing four. Looking back, I came a long way since I started doing this. Now I have actually built up enough endurance to do an actual run even if it is very short at the moment.

So for the next 7 weeks I will be adding .3 miles to my distance until I am up to running three miles. It looks like I will be ready for the "Run Wild" after all and yes I was worried I wouldn't be.

Stats down below.

5K Blog: Workout 30 (Prelude To A Test)

Schedule: 150/150 Interval for 40 minutes. (8/16/12)

Results: Workout complete

Other: It's starting to become routine although my quadricep needs to be stretched out multiple times to keep it loose.

On 8/19/20 (today) I intend to go the High School track and see how far I can run before I can't go anymore. By doing this I intend to plan a workout schedule so I can be up to three miles running in seven weeks. This is when the fun begins.

Details below...

5K Blog: Workout 29 (Finally A Good Tuesday Workout)

Schedule: Interval Training 150/150 for 40 minutes.

Result: Workout complete.

Other: The stats say this was a less than stellar workout but since this is the first Tuesday workout I completed in three weeks I am giving it rave reviews.

About 8 weeks until the "Wild Run". (Ashley changed the venue from the Fox Cities Marathon and gives me an extra month to train.) I must confess I feel less than on schedule. On Saturday, I'm going to go to the HS track and see how many laps I can run until I just can't anymore. When I get an idea about how far I can run, I can adjust my workout schedule accordingly. I think the best I can hope to do on Saturday (with ample wishful thinking) is six laps (a mile and a half.) I know.... you can start laughing now.

Stats down below.

5K Blog: Workout 28 (Dodging Water Spouts)

Schedule: 150/150 interval for 40 minutes

Result: Workout complete

Other: First time I ran in the rain (since I was a kid) and the first time, since I started training, I ran with the temp below 60 degrees farenheit. I must say both were a welcome relief and I was surprised on how quickly I cooled down.

My neck is still sore. I pin-pointed the problem when at work I sneezed and my neck froze up. I found the part that's stiff and have been stretching it out very well. However, tomorrow I'm going to the store and pick up a heating pad to hasten my recovery. I feel like a lazy ass not doing my daily push ups.

You might have noticed the subtitle for this post mentioned water spouts. I just wanted to remember there were a few out on Lake Michigan this day...

In case you were wondering, the workout went well too. Stats down below.

5K Blog: Workout 27 (One to sneeze at)

Schedule: 150/150 Interval for 40 minutes

Results: Workout changed to walk after 5 intervals.

Other: I knew things were not going to go right when I did my push-ups and my neck started hurting. When I went to stretch, I didn't have anywhere near my normal flexibilty. The run started off ok but after the first interval I had a hard time catcbing my breath and there seemed to be an unusual amount of mucous I was coughing up. After the fifth interval, I could have still gone on but I would have been completely wiped out for a twelve hour day.

After thinking about it for a while and realizing what time of year it is, I have guessed that my allergies might be starting to kick in and when they start, it feels like a cold. Kind of how I felt yesterday for my workout. Hopefully some Allegra D clears this up... I hope.

5K Blog: Workout 26 (Success Hurts!)

Schedule: Interval Training 150/150 for 40 minutes.

Results: Workout complete.

Other: This one started out with the same temp, lack of breeze, humidity level etc as Tuesday's workout. I also thought I was going to have the same pathetic results. I forced my way through the last four intervals and boy did that wipe me out.

However, it sure felt a lot better than not finishing a workout for the second chance in a row. Stats are below.